J.B. Spins

Jazz, film, and improvised culture.

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Fantasia ’16: Battledream Chronicle

Depending
on how it is used, the internet can either liberate or enslave. Ask the Chinese
how that works. Circumstances will be even more extreme in the year 2100. In
this animated future, all nations are connected through the digital universe of
Farandjun, where most day-to-day life is conducted, rather than in the toxic real
world. Unfortunately, when the rogue AI virus Isfet assumes control over
Farandjun, she demands the connected nations conduct a Battle Royale, with the
losers submitting to the victors, in both the virtual and physical realms.
Princess Syanna Meridian was the first to fall, but she will have a chance at
redemption in Alain Bidard’s Battledream
Chronicle (trailer
here),
which screened during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Meridian
was once the Crown Princess of the first formerly sovereign state pitted
against the fierce Mortemonde. As a result, she was the first to learn
Mortemondian dictator Isaac Ravengorn has special armor that renders him invulnerable
and therefore invincible within Isfet’s Battledream arena. As they will do with
successive losers, the Mortemonde victors will wipe the memories of Meridian
and her people, integrating them into the lower rungs of their society.

As
Meridan and her partner Alytha Mercuri plug away as workaday gladiators in the
Battledream, Ravengorn cuts through his competition. The tiny city of Sablereve
is the final holdout. A recent defector from Mortemonde has brought news of a
relic within the game that can pierce Ravengorn’s armor. However, Meridian
chances across the Easter Egg weapon during one of her matches, but is wholly
unaware of its significance.

Let’s
not mince words. Battledream’s underwhelming
CG animation is barely a cut above straight to DVD B-movies like Gene-Fusion. However, its speculative
world-building and heady themes are more ambitious than its flat style
suggests. Frankly, is looks just adequate enough for viewers to get pulled into
the cyberpunky story of oppression and revolt. Bidard has created some
surprisingly engaging supporting characters, including Nyssa, the escaped Mortemonde
slave, Oramame Alwami, a sadist Mortmonde inquisitor who was once Nyssa’s
gladiatorial partner, and Klaus Balrog, the high-ranking Templar and defender
of Sablereve.

This
is definitely a film about good versus evil. In fact, the internal laws and
traditions of Mortemonde are unusually nefarious and cruel. Bidard certainly
primes us for some payback. Yet, he avoids most of the clichés you would expect
in the final showdown.

Considering
it was produced for about twelve cents, Battledream
is definitely worth checking out. Animation fans will might find its
visuals appealingly retro—or perhaps not. Still, there just aren’t that many
animated features coming from Martinique, so this also holds a claim to novelty
and national pride. As a bonus, it also features the Sonny Troupé Quartet’s
tune “Voyages & Rêves” (see video here) over the closing credits, earning
extra points for good taste. Recommended more for fans of dystopian science
fiction than animation connoisseurs, Battledream
Chronicle screened during this year’s Fantasia.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Fantasia ’16: The Show of Shows

There
was a time when lion-trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams was a regular on the Tonight Show and received flattering
portraits in Sports Illustrated.
Today, media appraisal of circus people falls somewhere on the spectrum between
Benito Mussolini and Jack the Ripper. You can sort of see the shift of attitude
in Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s circus-focused feature length clip
package culled from the National Fairground Archives in the freshly liberated
Great Britain. Get your sad clown face on for Erlingsson’s The Show of Shows (trailer here), which screened during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

It
will be Sigur Rós fans who will most enjoy Show,
thanks to the trance-ish electro score co-composed by band-members Georg Holm
and Orri Páll Dýarson along with Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson and Kjartan Dagur Holm,
rather than circus folk. Just about everyone else will quickly start to drift
as the thematically divided mastercut of vintage circus and carny footage
starts to wash over them.

However,
Erlingsson’s sort of cheats right from the start with a section devoted to
dancers. Snake dancers maybe, but ballroom dancers? Maybe it’s a Scandinavian
thing. He avoids the exploitative side shows (but Tod Browning’s cult classic Freaks also screened at this year’s
Fantasia, so we’re covered), while casting a somewhat politically correct idea
on the animal training acts.

Granted,
there are some crazy (and sometimes acceptably amusing) visuals in Show. To some extent, it summons hazy
memories of a simpler era, when lions were expected to earn their keep by
letting chipper young woman stick their empty heads in the beasts’ mouths,
rather than just unproductively laze about their natural habitat. However, the
film’s tone of hipster detachment will likely satisfy neither the nostalgic or
the morally apoplectic.

During
this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Show
of Shows screened one day as a looped installation, which is probably a
better way of presenting it. You can definitely pop in for twenty minutes and
get most of what there is to engage with in the film. Still, the dark aural
palette scored by Holm et al gives the film the feeling of a deep bottom.
Editor David Alexander Corno also stiches it together in a manner that flows
smoothly and logically.

Those who were won over by Erlingsson’s droll
and vermouth-dry Of Horses and Menwill
be thrown by this departure. Frankly, it is hard to recommend to a target
audience, since it is murkily unclear just who it was intended for. Still, it
is likely to pop up again somewhere following its Canadian premiere at this
year’s Fantasia.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Zulawski’s On the Silver Globe

It
is like the trippy, absurdist science fiction epic Jerzy Grotowski never made.
Andrzej Zuławski also considered it the film he never made, or rather the film
that was “murdered,” despite stitching together his surviving scraps into over
two and a half hours of immersive strangeness. Thanks to the ham-fisted Polish Communist
censors, it is an even more surreal viewing experience. Digitally restored to a
clarity probably never really seen before, Zuławski’s mauled and maligned masterwork
On the Silver Globe (trailer here) re-releases today
at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

In
both narrative and aesthetic terms, Globe
is closely compatible with Aleksey German’s adaptation of the Strugatsky
Brothers novel, Hard to Be a God,
which should either thrill or despair viewers, depending on how severe and
adventurous their tastes might be. Both films tell the stories of space travelers
from Earth who essentially go native on a distant world. In the case of Globe, it is astronauts Marta, Jerzy,
and Tomasz who give birth to a new human civilization, like an Adam and Eve
threesome, but with all the jealousies implied by the “two’s company, three’s a
crowd” cliché.

As
the new civilization becomes increasingly tribal, their descendants welcome
Marek, a new arrival from Earth as the messiah in the battle against the
Sherns, the planet’s sinister bird-people, who seem to have some sort of
extra-sensory powers. Or something like that.

Frankly,
Zuławski was never really going for narrative cohesion in the first place. Yet,
when the new Communist culture commissar Janusz Wilhelmi shut down his
two-years-and-counting shoot and ordered the destruction of all the film and
components Zuławski and his crew couldn’t hide away, it literally left gaping
holes the auteur eventually filled in the late 1980s with voice-overs. Considering
Zuławski always makes it explicitly clear why his narration is necessary, Globe might just be the most savagely
passive aggressive film you will ever see.

It
is also remarkably heady and bafflingly obscure. While the religious symbolism
is tough to miss, the finer points of the alien culture and the characters’
relationships seem to shift and evolve with confounding regularity. Yet, like
German’s film, it is loaded with outlandish set pieces and gritty, grimy
world-building detail. Cinematographer Andrzej Jaroszewicz’s wide angles and
fish-eyes gives it all a truly otherworldly look, while Andrezej Korzynski’s
electro-ambient-symphonic-blues-prog-rock score heightens the eclectic,
anything-goes vibe.

No matter how you cut it, Globe simply was not a great showcase for its cast, unless there
was a state-approved hack director looking for a thesp to run amok like a naked
shrieking wild man, smearing mud and blood on his chest. However, it is bold
cinematic vision from an aesthetically and ideologically rebellious artist. Arguably,
Wilhelmi shot himself in the foot banning and marring a film that so many would
have found utterly incomprehensible, but they understood perfectly the
oppressiveness of his decree. Even if you have no idea what to make of it (and
the cinema gods will readily pardon you for that), it is still nice to have it
available in all its raggedy, defiant glory. Recommended for serious film
students and patrons of censored works, On
the Silver Globe open today (7/29) in New York, at the Film Society of
Lincoln Center.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Fantasia ’16: Therapy

When
a child goes missing, it means all hands on deck for a provincial French police
force. That just leaves two junior detectives to work a quickly developing
serial killer case. Potentially, they could prevent dozens, maybe hundreds of
future missing persons. It all seems like a dangerous misallocation of
manpower, but this is France. Remember, they never did catch the Pink Panther.
Whether they can stop the shadowy killer seen in tape after tape of found
footage is a more pressing question in Nathan Ambrosioni’s Therapy (trailer
here),
which screened during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

A
box of tapes is found in an abandoned building near popular a camping site.
Normally that would not be so remarkable, but the blood splatterings give them
a sense of urgency. As the crime lab converts the various formats (VHS, Go-Pro,
16mm) onto flash-drives, two detectives watch the horror develop. Stephanie,
her slightly domineering boyfriend Steven, and three teen relations planned a
relaxing weekend getaway, but as Seb, the poorly socialized film student
documents, the frequent sound of distant screams quickly casts a pall on the
evening. They really should have left when someone breaks into Steven’s car,
but instead he waits until the a.m. hours to investigate the sinister squat
nearby. That would be the one that was once an insane asylum.

It
is tempting to get pedantic over the found footage (why is CSI splicing it
together in chronological order and how would they even know it in the first place),
but watching it from the helpless perspective of coppers Jane and Simon is
pretty creepy. As in his breakout debut Hostile,
Ambrosioni, the French horror prodigy, still displays a commanding mastery of
mood and tension, but Therapy is a
much more conventional and slashery follow-up.

Even
though he plays it fast and loose with the found footage conceit, it is still a
tough film for thesps to register in. Nevertheless, Nathalie Couturier is quite
compelling as the driven Jane. Likewise, Shelly Ward keeps us thoroughly off
balance as Abigail Parker, “the witness with a secret.” As part of Ambrosioni’s
repertory company, she is becoming quite the cult horror star. Fittingly,
Ambrosioni plays Seb—mostly heard rather than seen.

There is no questioning Ambrosioni’s horror
mechanics. His use of sound and light to keep veiwers on edge is decidedly impressive.
Nevertheless, Therapy just doesn’t
hit you on as deep a level as Hostile—and
its big twist is not nearly as bracing. Okay, but still something of a
sophomore slump in comparison, Therapy had
its world premiere at this year’s Fantasia.

All
things considered, it is rather encouraging to see Sun Wukong, a.k.a. the
Monkey King is more popular than ever in China. He compulsively rebelled
against authority, leading his notorious “uproar in Heaven” before becoming a
disciple of Buddhist monk Xuanzang, protecting him on his quest in search of
sacred texts. Following hit live-action films starring Donnie Yen and Aaron
Kwok, Sun Wukong gets the animated treatment in Tian Xiao Peng’s Monkey King: Hero is Back (trailer here), which opens this
weekend in select cities.

There
will be no Journey to the West for this Monkey King—at least not yet. Instead, young
Liuer inadvertently frees the mischievous hero from his five-hundred-year
imprisonment. It turns out the orphan could use some help. After his parents
were killed in an ogre attack, Liuer was adopted by Fa Ming, an itinerant monk.
Unfortunately, the lad was separated from his surrogate father when he rescued
a toddler from ogres commanded by the Saruman-like Hun Dun, who is in the
market for child sacrifices. Enter the Monkey King.

Except
the newly released Sun Wukong will need some convincing before he decides to
play the hero. Liuer will have some help from the Monkey King’s fellow Journey to the West Disciple Pigsy, who
is also conveniently reanimated. However, their once and future comrade Sandy
the Sandman will not be joining them this time around. Given Pigsy’s ineptitude,
most of the heroics will be left up to the Monkey King, with occasional assists
from the boy and the monk.

MK’s CG-animation is
perfectly presentable and some of the classically-inspired design work is downright
cool, such as the White Dragon and Hun Dun’s cliff-face lair. Liuer can be a
bit of a pain, but the action sequences are surprisingly cinematic. It is also
absolutely bizarre how much the animated Sun Wukong looks like the
painstakingly made-up Kwok in The Monkey King 2 in 3D, or vice versa. Yet, there is something arguably more
appealing about the wiry, hardnosed animated Monkey King than the twitchy recent live action portrayals.

Ironically,
Jackie Chan provides the Monkey King’s voice in the English dub, but not in the
original Mandarin. It definitely sounds like him, for what that’s worth. For
additional class and cred, James Hong dubs the righteous old butt-kicking Fa
Ming. Frankly, the production values are considerably higher than you might
expect. However, there are several scenes that are probably too intense for
most young viewers, but Monkey
King-Journey to the West fans will appreciate their integrity.

Over the years, the degree to which Sun Wukong
has been depicted with primate or human features has swung back and forth like
a pendulum. Like the live action blockbusters, Hero is Back doubles down on his Simian-ness. It is not as visually
striking as Wan Laiming’s classic Monkey King—Uproar in Heaven, but it respects the character and delivers the
action. Recommended for young but relatively mature wuxia viewers, Monkey King: Hero is Back opens tomorrow
(7/29) at the Cape Ann in Gloucester, MA and has a number of special weekend matinee
screenings at participating Landmark Theaters.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Fantasia ’16: Sori, Voice from the Heart

This
freshly sentient AI surveillance satellite should monitor a screening of Gavin
Hood’s Eye in the Sky or perhaps
Johnnie To’s film of the same name. Both would give her a greater appreciation
of her purpose. Instead, the satellite of love crashes to earth and teams up
with a Korean father desperately looking for his long missing daughter. Short Circuit style hijinks gets a
massive dose of fatalism in Lee Ho-jae’s Sori:
Voice from the Heart (trailer
here),
which screened during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Naturally,
Kim Hae-gwan had a terrible row with his college-aged daughter Yu-joo the last
time he saw her. Shortly thereafter, she presumably perished in a terrible
transit fire. Yet, without a body, Kim refuses to give up hope. Following up a
false lead on the Incheon Islands, Kim literally stumbles across the NSA
satellite he will later dub Sori. It too is on a mission. After intercepting a
cell phone call from a girl caught in the crossfire of an attack on the Taliban,
Sori is determined to find her and protect. She too is wracked with guilt for
facilitating the strike. However, as Alan Rickman’s Gen. Frank Benson would
point out, the drone strike might very well have prevented far worse horrors in
the form of a suicide bombing. (By the way, it is not too early to start
talking posthumous best supporting actor for Rickman.)

Thanks
to Sori’s skill set, Kim is finally able to track various cell phones
associated with his daughter. Of course, a narrative of this nature faces two
potential perils, a ridiculously phony happy ending or a massive downer. Instead,
Lee and co-screenwriter Lee So-young try to fake some symbolic redemption, but
the film just works better when it embraces the tragedy.

Lee
Sung-min (awesome as the cop in Brokenand
the crooked prosecutor in A Violent Prosecutor)
is simply devastating as Kim. Chae Soo-bin is maybe even more heartrending as
Yu-joo. Their backstory will pretty much do you in. However, Sori herself
rather conspicuously looks like something kit-bashed together with parts
leftover from R2D2 and Number Nine. Granted, it is nice to see Lee Ha-nui play
a smart, forceful character like KARI (Korea’s space agency) scientist Ji-yeon,
but her dialogue is conspicuously loaded with exposition. Lee Hee-joon fares
even worse as the blandly arrogant NIS working with and against the Yanks to
recover Sori.

Frankly, Lee Ho-jae and So-young’s didactic
criticism of the NSA gets awfully old, lightning fast. There is genuine grit
and integrity to Lee Sung-min’s performance, but the film still leaves viewers
feeling manipulated. Not a priority to catch up with, the greatly mixed Sori: Voice from the Heart had it Quebec
premiere at this year’s Fantasia.

Fantasia ’16: We Go On

Hamlet
told Horatio “there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in
your philosophy,” but that’s not good enough for Miles Grissom. He wants proof
of something after death, so he is offering thirty thousand American Dollars to
anyone who can conclusively demonstrate the existence of ghosts, angels or
what-have-you. You can forget about angels right off the bat, but ghosts are a different
story. After all, there are good reasons why Jesse Holland & Andy Mitton’s We Go On (trailer here) is screening
during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Ever
since his father died in a car crash, Grissom has been petrified by cars,
plagued by medium level agoraphobia, and paralyzed by the very idea of death. That
was about three decades ago. In a desperate attempt to reassert control over his
life, Grissom pledges his inheritance to anyone who can prove there is
something after. Naturally, he is inundated with responses, but his no-nonsense
mother Charlotte helps him whittle them down to three main contenders (and
maybe a few dark horses).

The
first session with Dr. Ellison, an academic paranormal researcher starts
promisingly, but ends disappointingly. The pattern will repeat with the other
main contenders, but one of the dark horses just might be the real deal. In
which case, Grissom could be in for a hard careful-what-you-wish-for lesson.

Indeed,
Holland & Mitton’s narrative radically changes course midway through, but it
always makes sense given the context. It is definitely creepy, but it is also
its own film. We are certainly not watching the same basic chiller re-purposed
for yet another cast. However, it is safe to say Annette O’Toole is their ace
in the hole, because she is terrific as the tart-tounged Charlotte. In contrast, Clark Freeman’s turn as Grissom
truly inspires mixed reactions. At times, he seems appropriately nebbish, but
he is also rather dull. The same could never be said of John Glover, who is
flamboyantly sleazy as ever playing Dr. Ellison. Although her work as Josephina
the medium is considerably less showy, Giovanna Zacarias is still effectively
squirrely, in a quiet, tightly wound sort of way.

WGO
springs a few sly surprises along the way, but
the clever details are what really make the film. Holland & Mitton do not
reinvent the genre wheel, but they nicely balance grounded humor with
supernatural horror. Recommended for horror fans who appreciate character and concepts,
We Go On screens again tomorrow
(7/28), as part of this year’s Fantasia in Montreal.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Fantasia ’16: Man Underground

Geologists
ought to be pretty down to earth (so to speak), but Willem Koda is flaky as
shale. Even his friends (both of them) will admit he is ragingly paranoid.
However, that doesn’t mean “they” aren’t ought to get him in Michael Borowiec
& Sam Marine’s Man Underground (trailer here), which screens
during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Koda
used to be a Federal contractor, but those days are long gone. Now he makes a
poor living as a speaker on the nutter circuit. Todd Buckle sort of inherited
Koda’s friendship from his late UFO-watcher uncle, maintaining it out of
loyalty and loneliness. Koda might have his faults, but he is polite, which
impresses Flossie Ferguson, an aspiring actress stuck waiting tables in her
sleepy hometown. Oddly enough, she inspires Koda to follow-up on Buckle’s
innocent suggestion. The trio will expose the truth by making a microbudget
film of Koda’s life.

For
a while, this seems almost remotely doable. However, as Buckle steadily falls
for Ferguson (despite her jerkheel yuppie boyfriend), Koda finds the personal
revelations increasingly painful. Of course, he might not be the only one
feeling alarmed by the film’s content, if you know what we mean.

Ostensibly,
Underground is an X-Files style sf-conspiracy thriller,
but it is actually a wise and sad portrait of a true believer. George Basil has
the appropriate hound dog presence for the world weary Koda. He nicely turns
some surprisingly poignant moments, as when he realizes how he froze out his
long-suffering ex-wife after playing a scene from their ill-fated marriage with
Ferguson. As Buckle, Andy Rocco is also amusingly droll in a laidback, unassuming
way. Somehow, Pamela Fila just doesn’t feel like she fits in as Ferguson, but
its not for a lack of trying.

Underground
is definitely a film composed in a minor key,
but it has its rustic indie charms. Basil proves you can fully commit to
character, without indulging in shtick or histrionics. It is a nice film, but
not a revolutionary revelation. Recommended for conspiracy cinema fans, Man Underground screens again next
Wednesday (8/3), as part of this year’s Fantasia.

The Invitation: Dinner Party with Kool-Aid

Never
ignore the weird things people say. We are socially conditioned to explain away
odd statements. We want to think so-and-so “just didn’t realize how that
sounded.” Unfortunately, this just sets us up for even worse awkwardness. A
grieving father recognizes the bizarre nature of his ex-wife’s cult, but his
ragingly anti-social behavior will not help his cause in Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation(trailer here), which releases
today in a special BluRay-DVD-digital bundle.

When
Will and Eden’s son Ty died in a freak accident, it killed their marriage as
well. For the last two years, he has tortured himself, while Eden disappeared
off the face of the earth. It turns out she was in Mexico with her future second
husband David and members of a supposed grief support group called Invitation.
However, even David Miscavige would admit they display cult like tendencies.
Plus, the leader vaguely resembles Wayne Dyer.

Having
finally returned her luxurious house in the Hills, where she once lived with
David and Ty, Eden throws a homecoming party for her old friends. She also
invites Will and his relatively new significant other, Kira. Pruitt and Sadie,
two of Eden’s fellow cult members are also there to give Will bad vibes. Before
long they bust out the cult recruitment videos, but everyone except Will is
still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Through
rapid cuts, Kusama shows us brief, nearly subliminal flashbacks, flashforwards,
or representations of Will’s inner emotional turmoil. It is intended to keep us
off-balance and guessing whether Will or David and Eden are the nutty ones, but
it only clouds the narrative.

However,
Kusama is spot-on in the ways she depicts the other guests bending over
backward to explain away the dubious behavior of Eden and David and Pruitt and
Sadie. Kasuma and screenwriters Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi perfectly nail the
ways cults manipulate people. It is a pretty darned frightening process to
watch unfold.

Arguably,
all the time Will spends sulking on his own ought to be a credibility problem,
considering he is at a dinner party with old friends, but you can hardly blame
him. The only guest who seems like any fun is Michelle Krusiec’s hard partying
Gina, but at least she gives the film constant energy boosts. As Will, Logan
Marshall-Green broods like a monster. John Carroll Lynch (Marge Gunderson’s
husband in Fargo)is creepy as heck as Pruitt. Likewise, Michiel Huisman’s David is smoothly
sinister, but Tammy Blanchard’s drugged out expression and Morticia Addams
wardrobe are dead giveaways as to Eden’s true colors.

Eden’s well-appointed home is also a real design
triumph. Looking both tony and eerie, it facilitates the story quite remarkably.
Periodically, Kusama will push the envelope of credibility, but when she simply
lets events unspool, it is uncomfortably believable. Definitely recommended for
horror fans (despite some quibbles along the margin), The Invitation is now available on BluRay/DVD from Drafthouse/MVD.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Fantasia ’16: Chihayafuru Parts 1 & 2

Karuta
is sort like baseball and boxing. It offers a competitive advantage to
southpaws—and there the similarities end. Using waka poetry cards derived from
the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, players try
to snatch away the verses that follow the stanza chanted by the reader. Or
something like that. Chihaya Ayase is a natural. Arata Wataya is even better.
Taichi Mashima is just okay, but together they were an unbeatable team in grade
school. Unfortunately, family circumstances split them apart, but a passion for
the game might just bring them back together in Norihiro Koizumi’s adaptation
of the manga and anime franchise, Chihayafuru
Parts 1 & 2 (trailers
here and here),
which screened on successive nights during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Ayase’s
passion for karuta can be a little overwhelming at times, but that is what it
will take to start a new club in her high school. Naturally, she is overjoyed
when Mashima transfers to her class, but he will need a bit of convincing.
Their former rival Yusei Nishida (a.k.a. “Meat Bun Guy”) soon joins up. It will
take some arm-twisting, but eventually they recruit Kanade Ooe and Tsutomu
Komano (a.k.a.”Mr. Desk”), capitalizing on her love for traditional Japanese culture
and his elitist pretensions. It will take a while for them to gel as a team,
but they will have the wise council of their former teacher, Hideo Harada, who
knows Mashima and Wataya as “Eye-lashes Boy” and “Glasses Boy,” respectively.

When
they start competing, Ayase is their only A-level player, but Meat Bun will
soon join her. Of course, all the top high school karuta gunslingers will be
looking for her. Unfortunately, she will let herself get sidetracked by her
perhaps unrequited (or perhaps not) love for Wataya and her obsession with
left-handed Shinobu Wakamiya, “The Queen,” or the top-rating woman karuta
player in Japan (and hence the world), despite still being in high school
herself. Meanwhile, poor luckless Mashima continues to carry a torch for Ayase.

What
a lovely, lovely film, or rather duology. If they screened it in high schools,
it could inspire a karuta craze among American teenagers. The five Mizusawa
High players are all ridiculously cute kids, but they also have realistically
complex personalities. Two back-to-back films totalling nearly four hours might
sound excessive, but viewers will miss spending time with them when it ends. Of
course, it starts with Suzu Hirose, whose career is just exploding with Chihayafuru and Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister. As Ayase, she is both
forceful and vulnerable—and altogether winning.

The
entire ensemble is engaging, most definitely including Shuhei Nomura, who
compellingly humanizes the somewhat moody Mashima. Mone Kamishiraishi and Yuki
Morinaga give Ooe and Mr. Desk nuance and dimension beyond their character
quirks, while the crafty veteran Jun Kunimura dispenses wisdom as Harada with seemingly
effortless élan. Viewers will have to wait for the second film to see Mayu
Matsuoka in action as the Queen, but she will definitely make her regal
presence felt.

Koizumi helms with a light touch, letting his
young cast keep it real. Masaru Yokoyama’s medium up-tempo score also subtly
reinforces the bittersweet vibe. Amazingly, even though the films leave so much
unresolved (exactly like real life), the audience will feel like they are
skipping on air when the final credits roll. These films will just totally
recharge your batteries. Recommended with tremendous affection, Chihayafuru Parts 1 & 2 next screen
internationally at Bucheon on Thursday (7/28), following their North American
premiere at this year’s Fantasia.

Can We Take a Joke?: Losing Our Right to Laugh

In
2010, only 40% of incoming college freshmen agreed it was safe to hold
unpopular opinions on campuses. When polled again as seniors four years later,
only 30% agreed. That is terrifying, because it suggests future adults have
been acclimatized to an environment without free speech. As a result, in a
recent Pew survey 40% of millennials supported curbs on free speech on social
justice warrior grounds. That is obscene. It is our rights they are willing to
trade away, but it is comedians who are the canaries in the coal mine. Director
Ted Balaker and a platoon of outspoken comics ask WWLBD or “what would Lenny
Bruce do?” in the funny and alarming documentary Can We Take a Joke? (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.

No
comedian has been arrested on obscenity charges since Bruce’s 1964 trial in New
York. His biographer and posthumous attorney readily point out the irony that the
cops and politicians who once targeted Bruce would now respect his First Amendment
rights, but he could never play college campuses today. Chris Lee is a case in
point. Washington State University administrators actually recruited a mob to
disrupt the staging of his gleefully tasteless campus production, Passion of the Musical. Now that’s obscene.

Some
of stories of rampant political correctness are just plain ludicrous, like
Gilbert Gottfried getting fired from his gig as the voice of the Aflac duck
because of a joke about the Japanese tsunami. Seriously, what part of Gilbert
Gottfried didn’t they understand? Obviously, they never saw him on the Comedy
Central roasts. Clearly, Gottfried is not about to shut-up anytime soon.
Indeed, he offers plenty of no holds barred commentary throughout the film,
along with unintimidated colleagues, like Adam Carolla, Penn Jillette, Heather
McDonald, and Jim Norton.

On
the other hand, Justine Sacco remains in hiding, but her story clearly illustrates
the point. She became the face of internet mob justice when she Tweeted: “Going
to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” before boarding a
plane. While she was offline, she was pilloried by the righteous (naturally led
by Gawker) and fired by her employer, IAC (they own Tinder and Chelsea Clinton
sits on their board of directors) without giving her a chance to tell her side
of the story. That’s obscene. For the record, it was a bad joke, but it was
meant to be satirical.

Indeed,
this kind of political correctness deliberately deafens the masses to notions
of context, which profoundly impoverishes the level of public discourse. The
implications for a relatively free democracy are absolutely chilling.

There might be a little too much Lenny Bruce
love slightly unbalancing Take a Joke,
but its analysis is always spot on, particularly that of Greg Lukianoff, the
president the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). It will
make you offended by the professionally offended and outraged at kneejerk
outrage. Timely but hopefully not too late, it also features a good deal of
laughs (albeit often bitter ones). Highly recommended for free-thinkers as well
as any Millennials not afraid of getting their feelings slightly bruised, Can We Take a Joke? opens this Friday
(7/29) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

Into the Forest: When the Grid Crashes

When
the Jean Hegland’s novel first released, it was well-received as a feminist
take on apocalyptic fiction. Since then, it has also found a receptive audience
among the Prepper community. It is not hard to see why. When the grid goes down
for good, you do not want to be a woman without a gun in Patricia Rozema’s
adaptation of Into the Forest (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.

After
the death of his wife, Robert moved his two roughly college-aged daughters to
his state-of-the-art, sustainable cabin in the Pacific Northwest woods. Oddly
enough, they are both mostly okay with it. Eva is obsessively focused on her
modern dance routines, while Nell starts a relationship with Eli, one of the few
hipsters in the nearest burg. When the power goes out, they assume it is a
localized phenomenon, but when they finally trek into town for supplies, they
learn it is much more widespread, with no anticipation of a quick fix.

Papa
Bob is probably the kind of guy who would have three months of food on hand,
but certain supplies are soon exhausted. Matters take a grim turn when a freak accident
leads to the good father’s death. He might have made it when the grid was still
up, but he has no chance in the permanent blackout. Of course, his death also
leaves them without an obvious “protector.” Nell tries to assume that role
anyway, at least to an extent, while Ava slides into depression. It will get
even worse for them when the outside world finally intrudes on their darkened
home.

From
either a feminist or Prepper perspective, Forest
is pretty effective film. Granted, the second act sibling angst drags on a
bit too long. If ever there was a time to knuckle down and get serious it would
be Doomsday. However, Rozema vividly portrays the post-Armageddon world. Unlike
the loudness of most post-apocalyptic movies, it is the quiet stillness of the
girls’ environment that is most striking. It also inevitably demonstrates why
it is important to have an equalizer when the social order breaks down. As if
that were not enough to entice gun-owning Preppers, it even holds pro-life
implications.

As
the father, Callum Keith Rennie is a naturally charismatic and reassuring
presence. He is almost like a slightly younger clone of his Canadian countryman,
Victor Garber. Although she is supposed to be the responsible one, Ellen Page
is often annoyingly petulant as Nell. However, Evan Rachel Wood shows great
range and taps into some truly dark places as Ava. Essentially, the film is a
three-hander at most, with Max Minghella stuck with little more than a walk-on
part as Eli, but Michael Eklund (not bad in Errors of the Human Body) eschews all subtlety, practically screaming “redneck
predator” as an unwanted visitor.

It
would be nice if Forest spurred a discussion
of our vulnerable power grid, but don’t hold your breath. Despite the efforts
of former Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, we have not hardened our powerlines against
potential electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Perhaps most problematic, the
Defense Department has declined to “island” our military bases. That means they
share the same utilities as the rest of the civilian population. After the
blackout of 2003, we know only too well how one crashing grid can bring down
those it is linked to like dominoes. Therefore, our military would be equally
in the dark as the rest of us in the event of an EMP, power plant sabotage,
Carrington Event, or who knows what (a few back-up generators aren’t going to
cut it).

Even those who prefer to bury their heads in the
sand should appreciate Rozema’s low key, closely observed vision of the
apocalypse. It is primal yet personal. Recommended for both Prepper and
feminist subcultures, Into the Forest opens
this Friday (7/29) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

Fantasia ’16: In Search of Ultra-Sex

Canal+
has long offered full service programming to a wide spectrum of customers,
including special scrambled overnight broadcasts. Those were exactly what you
think they are. As a result, the venerable media company had quite an extensive
archive of soft-core and not-so-soft-core naughty movies for filmmakers Nicolas
Charlet and Bruno Lavaine to plunder. The resulting hacked-together and
over-dubbed Frankenstein’s monster of a supercut takes the narrative shape of a
psychedelic science fiction film. The Earth is in trouble, but nobody is
complaining in Charlet & Lavaine’s In
Search of Ultra-Sex (trailer
here),
which screened during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Part
of the fun of watching Carl Reiner’s Dead
Men Don’t Wear Plaid with friends comes from showing off your recognition
of the incorporated film clips. Here, you’re on your own. Fortunately, there
were more than enough bargain basement Star
Trek and Power Ranger knock-offs
to supply the skeleton of Charlet & Lavaine’s narrative. Some nefarious
force has stolen the Ultra-Sex, the mystical mojo holding Earth’s collective
libido in check. Now that its gone, there is actually a halfway credible cause
for all the hanky-panky breaking out in public places.

Naturally,
various teams of naughty starship crews, private detectives, and superheroes
take up the case of the missing celestial inhibitor. Yet, perhaps not so
ironically, the cheapest, goofiest looking footage comes not from the Skinimax
spoofs, but from the notoriously cheesy but “legit” Samurai Cop.

If
you are not prudish or a color correction professional, Ultra is an amusing exercise in cult movie eccentricity.
Mercifully, Charlet & Lavaine wrap things up in exactly one hour, because
this concept could easily become a case of “too much of a good thing.” Although
they arguably have a greater narrative through-line than the films they are sampling
(mostly from set-up and foreplay scenes rather than consummations), it is still
pretty loose. Of course, any meaningful attempt at characterization is
necessarily impossible. It is literally a gag reel.

Be
that as it may, it is pretty bizarre to see what some blue movie makers thought
viewers would find titillating and even more mind-blowing that Canal+
apparently aired them at one point (granted, in the early a.m., but
still). We’re definitely talking about the sexually explicit puppets here.

Yeah so, Ultra.
There are plenty of opportunities to chuckle and shake your head at the wacky
barrage of images, but there is no danger of anyone busting gut from laughter. Frankly,
Charlet & Lavaine probably cobbled together the funniest film they could,
but their source material might just be inherently limiting. Nevertheless, it
is never dull. Recommended for cult fans who like to be able to say they have
seen films of notoriety, In Search of
Ultra-Sex is out there someplace, following its Canadian premiere at this
year’s Fantasia.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Fantasia ’16: The Inerasable

Notorious
history disclosure is a big deal in real estate law, but here in the city, we
don’t care. If we hear of a murder-suicide in a good building, we ask if that
means there’s a vacancy. Tokyo is sort of like that, but this particular flat
renting well below the neighborhood market rate still maintains an ominously high
turnover rate. The newest tenant finds out why in Yoshihiro Nakamura’s The Inerasables (trailer here), which screens
during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

“I,
the mystery novelist” does not talk about herself much, but she has a good relationship
with her fans. Currently, she has a regular magazine gig writing ghost stories
based on real experiences submitted by her readers. The latest comes from a university
architecture student, who will simply be known as “Kubo.” Soon after moving
into her suspicious affordable apartment, she started hearing noises from the
bedroom nook. She eventually realizes in is the sound of a kimono sash sweeping
the floor as the spirit wearing it swings on her spectral noose.

The
unwanted supernatural disturbances are entirely confined to the one room of
Kubo’s flat, but they appear to be rampant throughout the neighboring unit.
With “I’s” help, Kubo starts investigating the history of the land itself,
uncovering a chronicle of violent tragedy dating back over a century.

Inerasable is a wickedly
smart and atmospheric film that turns j-horror conventions on their head. It is
no accident “I” narrates the film, because Inerasable
is very much about the telling of the tale. There is really no gore at all
to be found within, but it is massively eerie to watch as the layers of the
onion are peeled back. This is a horror film mystery readers will flip for,
because it is driven by the investigative process. Frankly, Inerasable
will scare viewers directly in proportion to their level of concentration.

As
a further relative rarity, Inerasable also
features several complex characters played by a first class cast with
understated discipline (masterfully helmed by Nakamura). As the cool, calm, and cerebral “I,” Yuko Taakeuchi
makes Jessica Fletcher look like a bumbling idiot. Ai Hashimoto’s Kudo is also
smart and acutely sensitive. Kuranosuke Sasaki adds some wit and panache as I’s
mystery writer colleague, Yoshiaki Hiraoka, while Kenichi Takito keeps it real
as Naoto, I’s down to earth husband.

Screenwriter Ken’ichi Suzuki’s adaptation of
Fuyumi Ono’s novel has the immersive intricacy of considerably longer but similarly
engrossing films, like Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Reasonand the Solomon’s’ Perjuryduology,
which we consider high praise indeed. Yet, Inerasable
also strangely brings to mind Scooby-Doo,
simply because it is so pleasant to spend time with the informal
paranormal-investigating team I assembles. They deserve future sequels, but
this is what we have for now and its terrific. Very highly recommended for
intelligent horror and mystery fans, The
Inerasables had its Quebec premiere at this year’s Fantasia in Montreal.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Japan Cuts ’16: The Actor

Takuji
Kameoka is a working actor, with the emphasis on working. Some of his roles are
little more than extra gigs, but the professionalism and frequency of his supporting
turns earns him the respect of his more famous colleagues. Inevitably, the
journeyman thesp will have the inklings of a midlife crisis, but he will have
trouble fitting it into his busy schedule throughout Satoko Yokohama’s The Actor (trailer here), which screens as
the closing selection of this year’s Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film
in New York.

Kameoka
is also a heavy drinker, but that seems to go with the territory. He is a
veteran of just about every genre, but his most frequent credit is “Thief.” He
would like to settle down, but in his line of work, he never meets the sort of
real world woman who might be interested in him. However, Kameoka finally
starts to get ideas during a shoot in the exurban provinces. Finding himself at
loose ends his first night on-set, he walks into a bar and is immediately
struck by the proprietress, Azumi Murota (so will the entire audience).

The
chemistry is immediately evident, yet also comfortable, as if they had known
each other for years. It obviously means something to Kameoka, but he will
allow himself to get distracted by other business, including an audition for a
Spanish auteur he reveres and a rare theatrical casting in a hideously pretentious
production directed by and starring a grand doyen of the stage.

The Actor is a lovely film
that proves Japanese cinema has an overwhelming comparative advantage in
bittersweet dramedy. However, it suffers in comparison with the sublimely
poignant Uzumasa Limelight. While
Seizo Fukumoto’s aching dignity took on regal dimensions, Ken Yasuda’s Kameoka
is a more rough-and-tumble blue-collar kind of guy. Like his character, Yasuda
is often cast as comic foils (that would be him portraying the hyper-judgmental
high school teacher in Flying Colors),
so he can clearly relate. Avoiding clichés, he brings out Kameoka’s rumpled
charm and fatalistic sense of humor. It is easy to understand why he is such a
reassuring presence on sets.

As
Murota, Kumiko Aso steals our hearts and then quietly breaks them. The
give-and-take of her scenes with Yasuda are just beautifully balanced. Yoshiko
Mita also upends our expectations and drops some surprisingly heavy lines as
Natsuko Matsumura, the dread terror of the stage. Regardless, it is Yasuda’s
film and he makes the most of it.

Somewhat strangely, Tsutomu Yamazaki plays a cap
and shades wearing jidaigeki director transparently modeled on the late, great
Akira Kurosawa, whose last film released in 1993, over twenty years ago. Still,
some the films charms are its knowingly nostalgic winks, like the rear-screen
projection driving sequence. Regardless, Kameoka is a rather timeless figure and
Yasuda’s fine performance will most likely only appreciate over time.
Recommended with affection, The Actor concludes
the 2016 edition of Japan Cuts, this Sunday (7/24) at the Japan Society.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Japan Cuts ’16: Flying Colors

Sayaka
Kudo is the sort like Reese Witherspoon in Legally
Blonde, except she has real issues and real adversity to overcome if she
hopes to make it into her first choice school. She could not even spell Keio
University before she enrolled in Seiho Cram School, but she might have a
puncher’s chance at admittance in Nobuhiro Doi’s Flying Colors (trailer here), which screens during this year’s Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film in New York.

Kudo
was constantly bullied during elementary and middle school, but she found
acceptance in high school when she fell in the gum-smacking mini-skirt-wearing
clique. Doing shockingly little academic work, Kudo and her friends are at the
absolute bottom of their class, but they have fun shopping and doing karaoke.
However, when she is indefinitely suspended, her protective mother Akari
enrolls her in Seiho, where she will be tutored by Yoshitaka Tsubota, the Jaime
Escalante of cram schools. He might be slightly nebbish, but the dedicated
Tsubota has a knack for adapting his pedagogical approach to suit each pupil. He
will face his greatest challenge with Kudo, given her fourth grade reading
level, but she will work with him, rather than against him.

Of
course, nobody believes in Kudo besides Akari Kudo and Tsubota-san, least of
all her disinterested father. Instead, Toru Kudo obsesses over her brother’s
high school baseball career, which puts crushing pressure on poor Ryuta. Her
high school teachers similarly dismiss her ambitions, but her hard-partying
friends embrace her dream, even when that means letting go rather than holding
on.

You
might think you know where Doi is taking the film—and you probably have the
right general idea, but it cuts way deeper than you expect. Based on a real
life cram school teacher’s autobiographical novel, Flying fully explores the sources of Kudo’s insecurities and
alienation. After walking in her stiletto heels through the first ten minutes,
it is hard to begrudge her choices. It is also hard to forgive her jerkheel
father, but Doi and screenwriter Hirohi Hashimoto just might manipulate us into
doing it anyway.

Flying is the sort of
film that gives just about every character their fifteen minutes to explore
their flaws and earn forgiveness. It is a defiantly humanistic film, powered by
Kasumi Arimura’s remarkably rich and complex performance. She is not just a
bubbly airhead. We see her mature and come into herself. It is a rather
remarkable process that puts Witherspoon’s shtick to shame.

Arguably,
we learn very little about Tsubota’s private life, but Atsushi Ito’s earnest
portrayal is still quite compelling, in a Stand
and Deliver kind of way. Yo Yoshida is exquisitely heart breaking as Akari,
while Tetsushi Tanaka perfectly pivots as her disappointed-by-life father. Shuhei
Nomura never comes on too strong as her potential cram school love interest,
Reiji Mori, while Airi Matsui, Honami Kurashita, and Nanami Abe show unexpected
grace as Kudo’s Kogal posse.

It is always refreshing to see a film that
values academic achievement. It is also a pleasure to see young talent stake
their claim to the future on-screen. Flying
should definitely take Arimura to the next level up, both commercial and
critically. She is a revelation, but she is also surrounded by young, but
ridiculously polished talent. If ever a film could be called a sure-fire crowd
pleaser, it would be Flying Colors. Very
highly recommended for teens and anyone who ever felt like a screw-up, it
screens this Sunday (7/24) at the Japan Society, as part of Japan Cuts 2016.

Fantasia ’16: Aloys

Aloys
Adorn is a private eye, but he follows more in the tradition of Alain
Robbe-Grillet’s The Erasers than
Hammett or Chandler. Nondescript and unassuming to a fault, Adorn is perfect
for divorce surveillance. Following the death of his father (who was also his
partner and roommate), Adorn withdraws from life in a manner worthy of Bartleby
the Scrivener, but a strange neighbor will try to pull him back, sort of, in
Tobias Nölle’s Aloys (trailer here), which screens
during the 2016 Fantasia International Film Festival.

It
is not like a lot of people are yearning to engage with Adorn, but he will
freeze out any who try. That includes his rather odd neighbor Vera. Apparently,
she was so frustrated with him, she stole his video camera and digital tapes.
That would be before her accident-slash-suicide attempt. He used to watch his
old surveillance footage each night, in lieu of having a life, but she will
force him outside his comfort zone instead.

She
calls it “telephone walking,” but it is essentially a mutual visualization
exercise. In this case, it might actually work. Soon Adorn is projecting
himself to a mossy forest, where he meets the hospitalized Vera. Or maybe it is
an idealized version of her. Regardless, he soon starts to feel some kind of
something for her, especially when she joins him in his apartment for groovy,
retro-1970s console-organ party.

Aloys is a very strange
film, but also an understated one, as you would perhaps expect from the German-speaking
Swiss. Nölle’s mastery of mise-en-scène is conspicuously evident in each and
every carefully composed shot. He and cinematographer Simon Guy Fässler make
Euro drabness look dramatically stark. Yet, he might be too thorough when it
comes to problematizing ostensive reality. Once the telephone walking starts,
he never lets viewers get their feet back under them, though not all cult
cinema fans will object to that.

Without question, Nölle elevates style over
narrative, so be prepared to deal (or not). However, the hypnotic control he
exerts is almost eerie. There is substance to the surreal flights, but do not
look for easy, programmatic symbolism. Just call it an existential trip.
Recommended for the adventurous, Aloys screens
again this Wednesday (7/27) as part of Fantasia ’16.

AAIFF ’16: Daze of Justice

The
stakes are high, but the proceedings of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal are often
tediously dry. To some extent, the legalistic tone is necessary, but it often
plays into the hands of the Communist Khmer Rouge defendants, who wish to keep
the truth bottled up. Remarkably, Hong Siu Pheng came back for more. He watched
the prosecution of his father, Kaing Guek Eav, a.k.a. “Comrade Duch,” from the
protected chambers provided for family members, but he will return to witness
the trial of Nuon Chea and three other high ranking war criminals with
survivors of the genocide. It will be a difficult experience, but it
precipitates small, highly personal steps towards reconciliation in Michael Siv’s
Daze of Justice (trailer here), which screens
during the 2016 Asian American International Film Festival in New York.

In
hopes that the truth will finally come out, Cal State Long Beach Professor
Leakhena Nou recruited several aging survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide to
confront the accused in court. Siv, the son of a survivor, will document their
journey as an observer. However, the story takes an unexpected turn when Hong
Siu Pheng agrees the accompany them during the trial.

He clearly lives a
hardscrabble life with his family in the provinces, so the survivors cannot
accuse him of benefiting from his father’s connections. Frustratingly, he
apparently learned little from his father’s tribunal, judging from the bland,
relativistic platitudes he repeats. However, he quickly changes his tune when
he finally visits the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where his father oversaw the
constant torture and executions, as well as the Choeng Ek Killing Fields
memorial. It is like he literally deflates on screen.

Although
they are obviously wary around each other, the survivors direct little overt
hostility towards the mass murderer’s son and vice versa. Belatedly, Hong Siu
Pheng seems to finally face up to his uncomfortable family history, which also
happens to be deeply troubling national history. For the good Professor, he
clearly represents the nation in microcosm. Unfortunately, it just isn’t
practical to take every deliberately misinformed citizen on a similar
excursion, but that is presumably why Siv and his cameras were welcomed into
such private moments.

Hong
Siu Pheng is indeed a deeply compelling figure, who carries the stigma of his
father’s crimes, but holds none of the culpability. The doc obliquely questions
just how much the Tribunal’s heart is in these prosecutions, without sounding paranoid
and conspiratorial. Daze is
sympathetic towards all innocent parties (broadly defined), while capturing the
hushed eeriness that now hangs over Tuol Sleng and Choeng Ek. It is a highly
personal film, but it also holds wider national significance for Cambodia. Respectfully
recommended, the sixty-nine-minute Daze
of Justice screens this Sunday (7/24) at the Village East, as part of this
year’s AAIFF.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Beta Test: Game Hard

Andrew
Kincaid is like the Mike Bloomberg of gaming companies. An ardent gun control
supporter, he coins the slogan: “keep guns in games.” He is also determined to
keep his company’s technology out of the hands of the military. Of course, it
is all for the sake of preventing obstacles to his megalomaniacal quest for
power. Unfortunately, his toughest critic will literally find himself playing
the villain in Kincaid latest video game. The game’s repercussions on real life
will also come as a nasty shock to the first test player in Nicholas Gyeney’s Beta Test (trailer here), which opens
tomorrow in New Jersey.

Max
Troy has not left his house for the last two years. He obviously has issues,
but also made bank testing and sometimes modifying Kincaid’s releases. The
newest first-person shooter seems unusually real, because it is. Thanks to a
chip implant, former Sentinel executive and all-around hardnose Orson Creed
will helplessly embark on a Grand Theft
Auto style crime spree, with Troy at the controls. However, Troy puts two
and two together quicker than most movie characters, forcing Kincaid to
dispatch a team of colorful henchmen to keep Troy playing the game at gunpoint.
Unfortunately, the in-game premise—the abduction of Creed’s wife Abbie, who
also happens to be Kincaid’s ex—is similarly all too true.

Gyeney
and co-screenwriter Andre Kirkman are startlingly gutsy when they reveal
Kincaid has forced a patsy to commit a Columbine-style school shooting to
advance his agenda. However, they apparently felt the need to water-down the
film’s Second Amendment implications with some clichéd rhetoric castigating
Kincaid as a one percenter. It just sounds unnatural coming out of Creed’s
rightwing-looking mouth.

At
least Creed can fight. Creed is the first lead role in a film for Manu Bennett,
best known as Crixus in Spartacus. He
certainly has the physical presence and his weird growling voice is actually
quite effective. Executive producer Kevon Stover, Edward Michael Scott, and
Yuji Okumoto (from Karate Kid II and Awesome Asian Bad Guys) add energy and
villainous verve as Kincaid’s hit squad. Linden Ashby is suitably slippery and
slimy as the evil gaming tycoon, but unfortunately, Larenz Tate is rather bland
and lightweight as the house-bound Troy.

In all honesty, Beta Test often looks like a B-movie in problematic ways. However,
there are some impressively brutal fight scenes and it is almost hypnotically
compelling to watch the bearded-up and bespectacled Bennett do his thing.
Recommended as a guilty pleasure with some degree of implied support for
personal liberties, Beta Test opens
tomorrow (7/22) at the AMC Loews Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth.

J.B. Spins

About Me

J.B. (Joe Bendel) works in the book publishing industry, and also teaches jazz survey courses at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies. He has written jazz articles for publications which would be appalled by his political affiliation. He also coordinated instrument donations for displaced musicians on a volunteer basis for the Jazz Foundation of America during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Send e-mail to: jb.feedback "at" yahoo "dot" com.